The pronunciation of his name was an issue I long puzzled over myself. I think I say the one half the time and the other the other half.

According to wikipedia, Gaiman is rendered in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /'geɪ.mən/ , but since no one can actually make sense of the IPA -- least of all me -- I turned to his website , which handily provides the ultimate definitive once and future answer:

How do you pronounce your last name? Is it gay-man or guy-man or something else?

It's Gaym'n.

So, in short, it's gay-mehn, but don't make fun of his name. Because he can write better than you. And he's edgier. Like so edgy. Just look at those pictures on his site, whoa.

[edit] I don't suppose I can delete my own posts entirely? Sorry, I'm new, and my first attempt to post the previous one -- two in this forum actually -- failed because of the new person word filter; I was told it had been lost forever, but apparently it went through with a few-day delay.

Just a heads up. Gaiman was on The Colbert Report tonight. ( Well worth watching this interview Gaiman is funny and credits Tolkien as an early influence and Colbert quotes Tom Bombadil...at length. Raising his geek score through the roof.

TS wrote:The pronunciation of his name was an issue I long puzzled over myself. I think I say the one half the time and the other the other half.

According to wikipedia, Gaiman is rendered in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /'geɪ.mən/ , but since no one can actually make sense of the IPA -- least of all me -- I turned to his website , which handily provides the ultimate definitive once and future answer:

How do you pronounce your last name? Is it gay-man or guy-man or something else?

It's Gaym'n.

So, in short, it's gay-mehn, but don't make fun of his name. Because he can write better than you. And he's edgier. Like so edgy. Just look at those pictures on his site, whoa.[/quote]

Yeah I like the one of Gaiman in the sun glasses. If he had 2 heads that's just how I'd expect Zaphod Beeblebrox to look.

Reviving an old thread to rave about my new favourite author. NEIL GAIMAN IS AMAZING!

There's the crazed fangirling out of the way. Although American Gods is objectively probably Neil's "best" novel, Neverwhere is the one that really has my heart, because I lived in London for three or four years. Funny old city, London, all higgledy-piggledy and funny names for places, a mixture of old and new and full of things that everyone's forgotten all about. In a funny way, Neverwhere made that city make a bit more sense.

i absolutely love gaiman. neverwhere is one of my favorite books, but american gods is probably more enjoyable to a wider audience. stardust is absolutely fantastic, and i love sandman as well, even if i've only been able to read the first few volumes.

the graveyard book, coraline, the blueberry girl, the day i swapped my dad for two goldfish, his version of snow white (snow, glass, and apples)...his whole bibliography. not to mention his movie mirrormask.

the man has an imagination like no one else's, and he can write for kids, adults, and in between. until i read gaimon, i'd list about twenty authors if you asked who my favorite was. now, it's gaimon.

and he won the hugo for his episode of doctor who! bringing two of my biggest fandoms together. makes me happy.

okay. now that i've done my fangirl raving, maybe i can have a reasonable conversation about the man?

i don't think neverwhere was flat, but i can definitely see how it might come off that way. like i said, american gods might be a better place to start, or one of his short story collections.

I've only started reading Neil Gaiman books in more recent years. The ball slowly started rolling on that thanks to the Coraline animated film, which I thought was very good! I admire a 'children's' story that doesn't patronise the reader and has unnerving elements. Since the film I have read the book, in novel form rather than the comic book (seemed to be more available), and found it a bit rushed through. Great ideas, but too simplistic. After watching a film I often hope the novel its adapted from has more to it, but the book didn't really add on anything.

Before that I'd read Stardust. Again it felt a little on the simplistic side; I like my stories to have a bit more description. The ideas were interesting. At this point I was thinking that the lack of detail was Neil's style and so was a little reluctant to read more. However, I was recommended by a few people to read some other books of his, and I can see how they differ.

American Gods had the bulk I was looking for in a novel and I could now see that Neil can actually write more to what I like to expect! This was also an interesting read, interesting ideas; the only thing was perhaps it ended a bit suddenly after such a build-up.

The last one I read was Neverwhere which started great. I felt it a shame some of the characters seemed to have a lack of depth. The one guy was set out to be interesting, yet he seemed a tad pointless to the tale. It is fun when you can relate to certain places being named, especially after I'd come back from living in London for a few months.

I'm not sure where to go next with Neil. I'm not sure I can be bothered with the short stories (again I prefer more to a tale), unless they can be very much recommended? ! I'll have to remind myself what else he's published. Overall he is an author that intrigues me, has shown he can tell a strange and interesting story, yet hasn't yet really wowed me yet.

I think the thing is that Gaiman writes to different audiences. Coraline was a kids book, Neverwhere and The Graveyard Book and probably The Ocean at the End of the Lane (which i haven''t read) are young adult books and American Gods and Anasi Boys (which you should read if you haven't) were aimed at an adult audience. The guy just won't be pinned down to any one thing. In the interview, he said as much. He wants to do everything from screenplays and television to books to video games (he has written one that comes out next year that sounds pretty interesting). The good news (for me) is that he says he intends to take a break from everything soon, including social media, where he has a large involvement with his fans, and just write for 6 months.

That's true. With a good author though, I believe I can read books for various ages and still be satisfied. Interesting that you put Neverwhere as young adult rather than with American Gods level (not arguing with you there, I just assumed they were aimed at the same level!). I shall certainly look into reading Anansi Boys, then.

Neverwhere is one of my favourite books. I can read it again and again. But I'd never considered it to be aimed at a younger reader. I'm interested to know why you would categorize it as such Glass House. Was it something Neil ha s said or your own take on the writing style? (not arguing, just curios )

Hi, just saw your question. The only reason I classed it a YA is that I knew it had won an award for that and that's probably why the local book store had it in that section(IIRC). Other than that, it's been too long since I read it for me to judge.

... editA quick Google tells me that it was the YALSA that Neverwhere won (Young Adult Library Something-or-other) but also that it's considered and adult fantasy novel.

This story talks about it being banned from a New Mexico high school for sexual content. I guess it really has been a long time since I read it because I don't recall any significant sexual content.

I read The Ocean at the End of the Lane last month. Was quite disappointing - as is now typical for Gaiman novels, he rehashes ideas and concepts from The Sandman or his short stories (he's a better short story writer than he is a novelist, and he's a better comic book writer than either). Ocean really was just an extended and padded short story. Lovely prose, but that's really about it.